Flower or weed?

[myfedora]

This came up in my flower bed and was wondering if anyone knows what it is.

 

[Blueaussi]

Looks like a datura of some sort. Datura stramonium, perhaps?


http://www.missouriplants.com/Bluealt/Datura_stramonium_page.html

 

[Flower4Yeshua]

yes, that is what the flower and leaf look like from the sid eview...byt what ever it is...it is pretty

 

[myfedora]

Well now I know, it is a dangerous and invasive weed. So tomorrow I will get my gloves on and pull them up. At least I got a pretty picture of the bloom

 

[Blueaussi]

Well now, a lot of companies sell the seeds for it as an ornamental. It does have a beautiful flower.

 

[sfishergirl]

I have never heard of it as an invasive. I have heard of it as an herbal pain killer but is very dangerous. I grew a triple purple one year Datura (jimson weed) does not survive our winters. It is pretty though but not something I would grow It does sell like chocolate cake up here though only because ppl dont want to be bothered to grow brugs and overwinter them. Speaking of which I have 3 blooms open tonight and my son sleeping in a tent parked near it so he can smell them while he sleeps.

 

[myfedora]

From what I read, everything about this plant is dangerous. It can contaminate honey even. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium

 

[sfishergirl]

If you read all the way down in your link it talks about medicinal uses including the treatment of asthma even though it is no longer used today The FDA stillls uses components of it atropine, scopolamine and hyoscyamine. I am not saying to go out and harvest for use I was simply stating that it used to be a widely used herbal. ppl also say that datura is so dangerous that a gopher has been found in the yard dead with a leaf in its mouth but all of my gophers have successfully eaten datura without dying. My point was that even though a plant is supposed to be so incredibly dangerous doesnt mean the rumors are right. Most houseplants are equally as dangerous. Tylenol will kill you if you take to much of it. Pointsettia have been rumored to have killed small children who ate them.

 

[myfedora]

Sorry sfishergirl I was in a hurry when I posted the last one. We have several bee farms around here and although I haven't seen any bees around it you never know. That is where I get my honey. Also the neighbors have a new puppy that loves to run over into my yard and grab flowers before they can get over to him. Is like a game he plays LOL. The new neighbors that are moving in also has a toddler. I try to keep my yard pet and kid friendly as possible.

 

[Dor]

I had one last summer and it was so pretty. I didn't harvest the seeds but I wish I had. I have small grandchildren and small pets but they don't touch a lot of my blooms. I do watch them very closely when I am in the yard with them playing.

 

[Blueaussi]

I think that part of the bad reputation it has is because it became popular with teenagers looking for a high. A rumor went around that it was a hallucinogen, that you made a tea from the seeds. I never read about any of them killing themselves, but I think most of them wished they were dead. It is almost universally described as a "bad trip", the hallucinogens are nightmares, and they get very sick.

 

[sfishergirl]

Actually the bad rep part with kids smoking it actually wasnt Datura it was Brugmansia and the rumor went as far as to say that states in the south were banning the plant and making gardeners dig up their brugs

 

[myfedora]

Well haven't pulled them yet, hubby likes them and wants to keep them. Is the only thing the rabbits are not eating. Am going to try the liquid fence and see if that actually works. Maybe it will keep the pup away too. I'm not sure what to do.

 

[Blueaussi]

There may have been a rumor about Brugmansia, but daturas are the ones that cause the bad high. If you look at the history, jimsonweed is sometimes called Jamestown weed because some of the British soldiers got high for a week by adding it to a salad; it's been a problem for a very long time.

And, well, more recently:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-01-jimson_x.htm

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/2607075/detail.html

 

[Crabbergirl]

They sometimes call it Loco weed. When horses eat it they get kind of crazy.
A weed is only anunwanted plant.

 

[sfishergirl]

lol I like the part about it not being illegal so the kids weren't charged. If Toxic plants were Illegal I would be on death row. lol I provide my neighbors with a list every spring and the names and numbers of 2 vets familiar with my plants and how they affect dogs I have only this year started adding prices to that list after our new neighbors dog dug up $120 worth of succulents

 

[myfedora]

Yikes! $120! Bad dog bad

 

[sfishergirl]

I didnt let them pay for them but I did a very desperate put as many pieces in the ground and pray they root. They took out all of my hens and chicks, a huge blue spruce sedum, pink aloe, sedum summer glory, sedum spathulifolium cape blanco and harvest moon, varigated aeonium, voodoo lilies and others. no one got sick

 

[Annette99]

I love all the daturas, and have had them on my property for 25 years, and have cats, dogs, and children, no one ever tried to eat them, I too think they are beautiful, it's impportant to dead head them, as soon as the flower dies as the seed pods are very spiny and nasty to deal with when they get big, I usually just let 1 or 2 pods mature.

 

[Bernie]

I recently fell madly in love with daturas. They are so pretty and smell heavenly. I have been collecting seeds for every varriety I can get my hands on. I just got eight different ones last week. I can't wait to grow them next year. My grandson has never eatten anything out of my garden except veggies. My neighbors are all seniors and hopefully know better. If the cats and dogs decide to snack on them well I have been trying to keep them out of my garden where they don't belong in the first place.
If you don't want them to self seed cut off the pods before they open up. Takes them a while to get ripe so you don't have to worry about rushing out there to do it.